云冈石窟分期试论

THE PERIODIZATION OF THE YUNKANG CAVE TEMPLES

云冈石窟明以前名武州山石窟,位在山西大同城西十六公里的十里河北岸的山崖上,东西连续约一公里。石窟的绝大部分,都是北魏中后期雕造的。按石窟形制和造象内容、样式的发展,可分三期。太武帝(424—452年)晚期,阶级矛盾和民族矛盾日益尖锐,北魏的统治开始衰弱。文成帝(452—465年)继位,马上颁布恢复佛教的诏书,诏书中特别强调佛教"助王政之禁律,益仁智之善性,排斥群邪,开演正觉。恢复佛教是为了维持北魏政权,这是极为清楚的。接着,文成帝就"诏有司为石像,令如帝身。既成,颜上足下各有黑石,冥同帝体上下黑子"。

The majority of the cave-temples at Yunkang in Ta-t'ung, Shansi Province were built in middle and late Northern Wei Dynasty. On the basis of architectural design, icon type and stylistic development, the author has divided them into three groups: The first group, which consists of the five cave-temples built for the Northern Wei imperial family by the monk T'an Yao, dates from A. D. 460—465. Built in simulation of a straw-roofed hut with an oval plan, their outer walls are adorned all over with the images of a thousand buddhas. The main images usually represent Kāsyapa, Sākyamuni and Maitreya, all of a gigantic size taking up most of the space in the cave. These are often represented with an exposed right shoulder and the draperies are so carved as to suggest that they were made of some woolen material. Within this group Caves No. 18, 19 and 20 form a single unit on account of their being not only earliest in date but also remarkable for the quality of the sculptures. These three caves probably have retained much of the style of Buddhist sculpture as existed before the persecution of Buddhism in A.D. 446. Cave No. 16 and 17 with their icons of Maitreya and Sakyamuni form a seperate unit in which the work of carving the sculpture was carried over into the second period. The cave-temples of the second group were built from the reign of Emperor Wên-ch'êng onwards until the removal of the capital by Emperor Hsiao-wên to Loyang, i.e.A.D. 465—494. This period represents the height of the cave-temple building activities at Yunkang. The main caves of this group consist of five units. Four out of these five units, i.e. Caves No. 7 and 8, 9 and 10, 5 and 6 and 1 and 2, are double caves while Caves No. 11, 12 and 13 form a seperate unit of three caves. Cave No. 3, the largest but unfinished cave-temple at Yunkang, was also built during this period. The caves of this group usually consist of two square chambers, one in the front and the other in the rear. Some of them contain a central pillar inspired by the pagodas located at the centre of monastery compounds of the time while others are provided in the back with a tunnel-like circumambulation passage. The walls sculptures are invariably divided into two registers, one above the other, and symmetrically arranged. The ceilings are also carved. The number of colossal images has dwindled but the subject matter of the sculpture becomes greatly diversified. These are accompanied by an increases in the number of niched images. In addition to the images of the Buddhas of the Past, Present and Future, Maitreya and Sakyamuni, there are seated figures of Sakyamuni and Prabhutaratna confronting each other, the Seven Buddhas and scenes illustrating the Jataka stories and the episodes in the life of Sakyamuni. There are also processions of secular donors. The raised drapery-folds of the images have now become flat and fleat-like. The sculptures decorating the cave walls are all carved in a very lively manner. Of particular interest is the increasing appearence of Chinese style architecture and typical Chinese costumes. The cave-temples of the third group were built during the period extending from the removal of the capital by Emperor Hsiao-wen to Loyang to the fifth year of the regin of Cheng Kuang (Emperor Hsiao-ming), i.e.A.D. 494—524. Located to the west of Cave No. 20, they consist mostly of medium-sized and small caves, as well as small niches caved on the empty wall spaces of the cave of two previous periods. The most common types are those containing a pagoda-shaped pillar or adorned with a thousand buddhas. Their walls are provided with either three niches or only two niches in two registers superimposed one upon the other. The figures have become much thinner and elongated, accentuated by a sharp increases in the number of drapery-folds in the lower part of the costume and a greater elaborateness in the decorations outside the cave entrance and along tthe outer edges of the niches. The images and wall sculptures in the cave-temples of Yunkang were carved for worship and as an inducement and an aid to meditation for worshippers. This purpose is particularly evident in the case of the caves of the second period. Apparently, the ruling class of the Northern Wei made use of the Buddhist faith to consolidate its rule and the opening of the cave-temples at Yunkang under imperial patronage should be viewed in this light. It is, therefore, not fortuitous that the caves of the first period were built by the imperial family while those of the second period were mostly built by the officials and landlords of the time. By the third period, the numerous lesser caves and small niches were largely built by ordinary people, a fact also attesting to the popularity of Buddhism in the Northern Wei Dynasty.